This application claims priority to an application entitled xe2x80x9cMethod for Updating Sector List of Home Zone Database for Home Zone Servicexe2x80x9d filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on Oct. 19, 1999 and assigned Serial No. 99-45330.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for providing a home zone service in a mobile communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for updating the sector list of a home zone database used for the home zone service.
2. Description of the Related Art
A home zone service allocates a specific area, called a home zone, to the subscriber of the mobile telephone. Depending on whether the mobile user makes a call connection within the home zone, a lesser charge rate is applied for a call connection made within this home zone.
If a mobile subscriber has requested the home zone service, designating his or her residence as the home zone, then the service provider may waive the connection charge or apply a lower charge rate that is equivalent to a wired call connection if the subscriber makes a call connection within the residence. Otherwise, a normal charge rate will be applied to the call connection made outside his or her home.
As the coverage area of a cell can be divided into a plurality of sectors, a sector information is used to more narrowly define the home zone. That is, a particular sector coverage area can be designed as the home zone. Thus, a sector list for the home zone service is represented in the unit of a bin, defining a particular home zone. However, the reliability of the sector list, which is collected using a Pseudo Noise (PN) signal strength to define a particular home zone, depends on the multipath characteristics of the surrounding environment. Thus, in the process of generating a sector list, a particular sector that should be included in the sector list can be excluded if the corresponding Pseudo Noise (PN) signal strength is affected by the multipath characteristics, such as a building and other structures.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method for adding, to a sector list, substitute information about a particular sector excluded from the sector list due to the corresponding low PN signal strength.
The object of the present invention is to provide a method for updating and managing a sector list in the event that a particular sector information is excluded due to the multipath characteristics, by fetching adjacent sector information.
In the present invention, a given sector is defined in the unit of a bin, wherein the bin is defined by the latitude and longitude of a two-dimensional coordinate system.
To achieve the above and other objects, the coordinates of adjacent bins are initially searched and the corresponding sector information of adjacent bins are included in the sector list if a particular bin is excluded from the sector list due to the multipath characteristics of the radio environment.